One of the latest hot topics on the restaurant scene is Retro Food and particularly dishes from the ninteen eighties. This rings something of a bell with me as one of my very first (of seventy five or more more) cookery books was written at this time. Wining and Dining at Home was published by Kingswood Cook Books in 1985.
Prawn Cocktail, Beef Wellington and Black Forest Gateaux is the most often quoted menú of time, but in fact the range of recipes was much wider and more interesting than that. If you have a fancy to offer a genuine retro dinner of your own here are some for first courses and desserts from my book. The main courses at smart dinners tended to based on fairly straight forward roasts or poached fish in cream sauces.
Starters:
Arbroath Smokies
Serves 8
An Arbroath Smokie is a small haddoch which is traditionally smoked around Arbroath in Angus, Scotland.
- 6 Arbroath Smokies
- Milk
- 550g butter
- 65g plain flour
- 175 Cheddar cheese grated
- Black pepper
- Skin ad bone the Arbroach Smokies and keep the flesh on one side
- Place the skin in a pan and cover with wáter. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain off the liquid and make up to 750ml with milk
- Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Gradually add the milk mixture, stirring all the time. Until the mixture thickens.
- Flake the fish and add to the sauce with the cheese and black pepper Reheat and transfer to individual ramekin dishes.
- Flash under the grill and serve with crusty bread.
Sweetbread and Mushroom Tart
Serves 6
- 400g shortcrust pastry
- 450g sweetbreads, washed
- 75g button mushrooms
- 1 shallot, skinned
- 1 bayleaf
- 300ml vegetable or chicken stock
- Salt and pepper
- 25g butter
- 25g plain flour
- milk
- cornflakes crushed
- Rollout the pastry and use to line 6×12.5cm tartlet tins
- Place mushrooms in a pan with the sweetbreads, shallot and bayleaf and cover with stock. Season and gently bring to the boil. Remove any scum which forms and simmer for 10 mins.
- Skin the sweetbreads and discard the shallot and bayleaf.
- Make a creamy sauce with the butter, flour, milk and a little of the cooking liquor from the sweetbreads
- Return the sweetbreads and mushooms to the sauce and simmer again to bring it to the desired thickness. Spoon into the tartlet bases.
- Spinkle with cornflake crumbs and bake at 180C for 20 minute
- Other ideas in the book: Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Egg Flan, Stuffed Artichoke Hearts and Love Apples
Desserts:
Raspberry Ratafia
Serves 8
- 150ml double cream, lightly whipped
- 3 tablespoons caster sugar
- 150ml creme fraiche
- 450g raspberries
- 225g seedless grapes, cut into halves or quarters
- A packet of ratafia biscuits or 4 almond mararoon biscuits , coarsely chopped
- Fold the sugar into the whipped cream and whisk again to the soft peak stage
- Mix in the creme fraiche and then fold in the raspberries, grapes and ratafía biscuits. Chill and serve in glass bowls
Royal Mint Creams
- 175 ml wáter
- 50g sugar
- 225g chocolate mint creams
- 4 egg yolks
- 300m double cream
- Boil the sugar and wáter together for 3 mnutes.
- Pour the mixture into a blenderwith the Mint chocolates abd blend until melted. Add the egg yoks and blend again. Leave to cool.
- Stiffly whip the cream and fold into the Mint chocolate mixture. Spoon into individual glass bowls and place in the fridge to set
- Other ideas in the book include
Pineapple Romanoff, Gooseberry Choux Ring, American Black Bottom Pie and Brandy Snaps with Ginger Cream
Surprisingly, I found my book still on the Kingswood Cookbook Website and for sale on Ebay. With such encouragment I am currently wondering if I should write a new book for the twenty first century entitled The Broken Biscuit Cookbook: Judy’s Retro Kitchen. The broken biscuits in the title refer to the open market stalls that cooks of my generation remember selling off broken biscuits to crumb for pie bases and toppings.